Venezuelan opposition claims protests’ death toll mounted to 7

Venezuelan opposition activists march during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro's government, in Caracas on April 13, 2017. A 32-year-old man died Thursday after being shot and wounded in a demonstration on April 11, becoming the fifth victim in the protests that began almost two weeks ago. Dozens of people have been injured and more than 100 arrested since April 6, according to authorities. / AFP PHOTO / FEDERICO PARRAFEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Images less

Venezuelan opposition activists march during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro's government, in Caracas on April 13, 2017. A 32-year-old man died Thursday after being shot and wounded in a ... more

Photo: FEDERICO PARRA, AFP/Getty Images

Photo: FEDERICO PARRA, AFP/Getty Images

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Venezuelan opposition activists march during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro's government, in Caracas on April 13, 2017. A 32-year-old man died Thursday after being shot and wounded in a demonstration on April 11, becoming the fifth victim in the protests that began almost two weeks ago. Dozens of people have been injured and more than 100 arrested since April 6, according to authorities. / AFP PHOTO / FEDERICO PARRAFEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Images less

Venezuelan opposition activists march during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro's government, in Caracas on April 13, 2017. A 32-year-old man died Thursday after being shot and wounded in a ... more

Photo: FEDERICO PARRA, AFP/Getty Images

Venezuelan opposition claims protests’ death toll mounted to 7

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Distraught with two weeks of constant unrest in their country of origin that has claimed at least five lives, Venezuelans in Houston will protest Saturday simultaneously with other cities and countries around the world, calling for elections in Venezuela.

Venezuela has erupted with protests in the capital of Caracas and other cities since the beginning of this month, sparked by a decision from the country's Supreme Court, which supports President Nicolás Maduro, that stripped the opposition-controlled legislature of its last vestige of power, as reported by Associated Press.

In Houston, a peaceful protest will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Post Oak Boulevard and Westheimer Road in the Galleria area.

Similar manifestations are planned in at least 25 other cities in the U.S., like Austin, Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami and Chicago. There will also be protests in countries such as Colombia, Argentina, Spain and Ireland, among others, according to Un Mundo Sin Mordaza (A World without Repression -Gag), an organization of Venezuelan opposition groups around the world.

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The protests will be unified under the hashtag #NoMas Dictadura, Hambre, Violencia (#NoMore Dictatorship, Hunger, Violence).

"We want to show the support of the Venezuelans around the world to the Venezuelans that are fighting in the street to rescue our democracy," says Diana Mendt, one of the Venezuelans organizing the protest in Houston.

Mendt represents Los Independientes, one of the groups from the opposition operating in this city under the umbrella of Venezuelans in Defense of Democracy.

The organizers say they are demanding international support to restore Venezuelan democracy based on four points: A call for new elections, the creation of a new national electoral council, a new Supreme Tribunal, and removing President Nicolás Maduro from power, according to Mendt.

During the protest in Houston, Venezuelans are going to be collecting medical supplies to send to the opposition protesting in their country, they say, as well as money to pay for the transportation.

Venezuelan authorities have confirmed five deaths during the latest protests.

The public prosecutor's office said it will investigate the death of 36-year-old Miguel Colmenares, who was shot at a protest in the central city of Barquisimeto on Tuesday. Another person, Gruseny Calderón, 32, was killed during the same protest, injured by rubber bullets that pierced his lung and liver. The protests have also claimed the lives of two college students and a 13-year-old.

According to a group of medical students and professionals providing first aid on the ground to the wounded in several Venezuelan cities, the total death toll is seven. They told the Houston Chronicle that beside Colmenares and Calderón, other fatalities include Jairo Ortiz, 19, Ricarda González, 87, Daniel Queliz, 20, Bryan Principal, 14, and Jay Amaro, 37.

One of the members said by phone from Caracas that they are seeing an unprecedented amount of people severely suffocated by tear-gas used by the government law enforcement against protestors. "We have also seen many people hurt by rubber bullets," said the young medical student who asked for anonymity, claiming a risk of being punished by the government. She says the group provides aid to anybody hurt in the confrontations, including soldiers, although the majority of the affected are from the opposition. The medical group works on the ground using masks to avoid being recognized.

Venezuelan Carie Andrade says that there is a severe scarcity of all kind of products and not just of medicines in the South American country, from food to electricity and water, of which they see frequent shortages in some areas. "Are you on your days? [Do] You need pads? Well, there's none. You are welcome to use napkins instead," Andrade said.

María Eugenia González, a Venezuelan in Houston planning to be at the Saturday protest, believes that Maduro's government may be seeing its last year and the end of the "Chavismo," the populist movement initiated by former president Hugo Chávez. He was in power from 1999 until he died in 2013.

But other Venezuelans like Ernesto León, an artist who lives in this city, doubt that such a change could be on the horizon for the near future.

"People haven´t been able to overthrow Maduro because there is a sector in the country that supports him thanks to Chávez," León said. "The People in Venezuela have a symbiotic relation with Chávez, they either love him or hate him."

León adds that Chávez "is still present in the heart of many Venezuelans. In confrontations that the recent ones, "Chavistas" (Chávez's followers) have shown that they know when to keep a low profile. And you can see now that the voltage is already low because everybody is going for vacation during Eastern holidays."

Gonzales, on the other hand, is looking forward to a "gigantic march that that opposition is planning for April 19. That could be the tipping point," she said.

The vast majority of Venezuelans in Houston opposed the Chavismo and Maduro's government. Only a very small fraction of voters from this city has cast the ballot for the government in elections where they have voted at the Consulate of Venezuela.

Olivia.Tallet@chron.comTwitter: @oliviaptallet

Protest and help in Houston

When: Saturday, April 15. from 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Where: Galleria area at Post Oak Boulevard and Westheimer Road.

Help: If you would like to help with medicines, first aid supplies or money to pay for shipments, call Diana Mendt: (713) 478-4446.